Claytronics: Programmable Matter

Omar A. De La Rosa Oliveras

Imagine holding your common portable phone which fits perfectly into the palm of your hand, and being able to transform it at will, within seconds, into a fully functional 20 inch portable computer, or turn your car into a motorcycle at will. Seems highly improbable right? Well, in theory, all this and more will be possible with the development and research of a new technology known as programmable matter. The main Idea is based on creating individual nanometer-scale building units which can be arranged and rearranged at one’s will. 

These building units would actually be tiny computers, or micro robots, called Claytronic atoms or “catoms” which will be able to interact with one another. They will act sort of like atoms in the sense that they will be the basic building units of the object which will be formed from them. The position arrangement of these catoms will be controlled by programming, in theory, making it possible for the object composed from them to take any shape desired. Catoms will move in three dimensions in relation to other catoms, adhere to other catoms to maintain a 3D shape, emit variable color and intensity of light, communicate with other catoms in an ensemble, and compute state information with possible assistance from other catoms in the ensemble. The current state of this technology is a bit bulky compared to the final vision of the initial concept. 

  

The current catom is a 44 millimeter diameter cylinder equipped with 24 electromagnets arranged in a pair of stacked rings. These electromagnets are the ones which make possible the interaction between the catoms. In the current design, these can only move in two dimensions relative to each other.  To move, a pair of catoms must first be in contact with another pair. Then, they must appropriately energize the next set of magnets along each of their circumferences. These current models can beat the horizontal force due to friction while in movement with no problem, but downscaling will result in less force having to be applied by each catom to lift its weight and that of the others around it within an ensemble. A future model of less complexity is being developed to lower manufacturing cost and make it easier for mass production. These new models will only have the essentials for working within the ensemble which means they must work cooperatively with others in the ensemble to move, communicate, and obtain power. Today, extensive research and experiments with claytronics are being conducted at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania by a team of researchers. Reseachers believe this technology will be on its final stages within the next four decades. 

Some current ideas for uses of programmable matter are for being able to display and reproduce moving three-dimensional scenes or images like the one seen in the picture above and for aircrafts to be able to change the shape and profile of their wings according to the different flight conditions. The phone and the car examples I gave at the beginning of the article may be ideas a bit too complex for the time being considering they consist of many complex internal mechanisms, but as this technology is being developed we will be getting closer and closer to making these ideas into possibilities. 

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